Changing your name with NatWest

How do I change my name with NatWest?#

NatWest's change of details page gives three routes for a change of name.

• In the app. NatWest calls this the quickest way: an eForm in the app, then an email with an image of your document.
• By Telephone Banking. You need your Online Banking login details, which NatWest says are the same as your Telephone Banking ones, and a member of its team takes you through the change. NatWest's change of details page gives the number.
• In a branch. Take your debit card, photo ID and your supporting documents; staff will ask you to tap in your PIN to check it is you. NatWest's branch locator finds the nearest.

Through the app or Telephone Banking, NatWest says your name is updated in two to four working days. It gives no time for a branch, and its page mentions no fee.

What does NatWest ask to see?#

NatWest sorts its list by the reason your name changed, not by the part of the name that is changing.

On deed polls NatWest is plain: one "can be registered or non-registered", and it calls the second kind a "Make your own deed poll". A registered deed poll is one enrolled with the High Court; a non-registered one is signed by you in front of witnesses and kept, as ours are. NatWest adds no condition for a new first name, such as photo ID in the new name.

In a branch the list differs slightly. For divorce NatWest also accepts the decree absolute with a passport in your former name; for separation, the marriage certificate with identification and proof of address; for adoption, a deed poll letter or identification and proof of address.

NatWest's page does not cover children's accounts; ask NatWest what it needs before you go in for a child.

Do I need a new passport first?#

No. Some banks accept an unenrolled deed poll only beside a passport or driving licence in the new name; Lloyds and Santander are two. NatWest sets no such condition, so it can be the first place you tell, which helps with the rest.

HM Passport Office asks for your original deed poll and one document showing you already use the new name, and its guidance to staff lists a bank statement issued in the last 12 months. DVLA, when your evidence is a deed poll, also asks for one document in the new name, and a UK bank statement is on its list. Once NatWest has changed your name, its statement can be that document. The app needs only an image, so take the photograph before the original goes to the passport office. Changing your name with HM Passport Office and with DVLA set out their steps.

Using the app, step by step#

Before you start, NatWest asks you to download the app, register for biometric security and have the document showing your full new legal name to hand.

1. Open your profile. Log in and tap your initials or picture at the top left of the screen.
2. Choose Personal details, then the arrow next to your legal name.
3. Review your current name details and pass the biometric check.
4. Complete the eForm with your new legal name.
5. Email an image of your document to ChangeofName@Natwest.com, the address NatWest gives, with your current name and your main account number and sort code in the subject line.

The email is a separate step from the eForm, and NatWest asks for both. Photograph or scan the whole document, so that every signature, the witnesses' details and the date can be read. NatWest says it will contact you if it needs anything more.

Mortgages, credit cards and titles#

• Your mortgage. NatWest's change of details page sets out one change of name process and no separate one for mortgages. Its page "Changing the names on a mortgage" covers something else, a Transfer of Title: adding or removing a borrower, for example putting your husband or wife on the mortgage after you marry. Everyone added or removed must agree, NatWest checks the mortgage is still affordable, you instruct your own solicitor, and no more than two people can be on a mortgage. The fee is £185 in NatWest's tariff of charges, refunded if the transfer does not go ahead.
• The property register. Your lender's record and HM Land Registry's register are separate: changing your name with HM Land Registry.
• Credit cards. If a credit card is your only NatWest product, NatWest asks you to call the number on the back of the card. Sainsbury's Bank cards that moved to NatWest work the same way, and changing your name on a credit card covers other issuers.
• Titles and gender. A title change needs no documents; NatWest suggests a chat with Cora in the app or Online Banking, starting with "Change of title". It can change a title only to one that matches the gender it holds for you, or to a gender-neutral title such as Mx. A change of gender is made on a form in a branch, also without documents, though NatWest says it can record only male or female for now. One branch form can change your name, title and gender together. Mx and other gender-neutral titles covers other organisations.

NatWest's page says nothing specific about joint accounts, and does not say whether new cards or chequebooks follow a change of name. For other banks, changing your name with your bank compares how they work.